Word: norplant
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Thus many American health experts were delighted last week when the Food and Drug Administration finally approved Norplant, a long-lasting contraceptive that is implanted under the skin. Already available in 16 other countries, the method not only is highly effective but also provides five years of protection against pregnancy with a single implant. How American women will respond to this new alternative, though, is not clear, since Norplant's long-term safety has yet to be fully studied, and it does have a few side effects. Some critics fear that the five-year implant will be used by policymakers...
...Norplant is essentially an old contraceptive in a new package. Developed by the Population Council, an international nonprofit research group, and Wyeth- Ayerst Laboratories, a division of American Home Products Corp. of Philadelphia, the method prevents pregnancy by using the hormone progestin, which with estrogen is the active ingredient in most birth-control pills. Norplant consists of six progestin-filled silicone tubes, each about the size of a matchstick. In a simple 15-minute procedure, a doctor inserts the tubes just beneath the skin in a woman's upper arm. Once in place, the tiny cylinders start releasing progestin into...
...forms of birth control are desperately needed, and a few are slowly appearing. Last year a French pharmaceutical firm introduced RU 486, a drug that helps induce a relatively safe miscarriage when given to a woman in the early stages of pregnancy. Another recent arrival is Norplant, steroid-filled capsules that are embedded in a woman's arm and deliver contraceptive protection for five years. The implant is approved for use in twelve countries, including China, Thailand and Indonesia...
...Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive that prevents pregnancy for three months, is used in 86 countries. Ironically, it was created by the U.S.'s Upjohn Co., but it has repeatedly failed to win the approval of the Food and Drug Administration because of concern about side effects. Norplant, which releases a hormone for five years, is available in five nations. The implant was developed by scientists of the New York City-based Population Council and will be submitted to the FDA next year. But even if Norplant gains acceptance, it is unlikely that any American corporation will market it domestically...